Designer Shoes by Jimmy Choo

Jimmy Choo OBE, born Jimmy CHOW Yeang Keat, is a London-based women's luxury fashion designer that is most widely recognized for his extravagant hand-made shoes. Choo is a Malaysian of Hakka Chinese descent who was born in Penang in 1961 into a family of shoemakers. He made his first shoe when he was 11 years old. He graduated in 1983 from Cordwainers' Technical College in London. Choo has divulged that he worked part-time at restaurants and as a cleaner at a shoe factory to help fund his college education.

In 1986, Choo began designing shoes by working out of an old hospital building that he rented out in Hackney, East London. He made shoes, sandals, boots, and high heels, and developed a small pool of loyal customers. His excellent craftsmanship and creative shoe designs soon became recognized in 1988, when Vogue Magazine a did an eight-page spread featuring his quality footwear.

Choo is legendary for elegant, imaginative shoes. The sandals he fabricated for a Vogue photo shoot displayed 30-carat diamonds and carried a price tag of $1 million, and Cate Blanchett's 1999 Academy Awards footwear featured diamond ankle straps and cost a mere $110,000. Wealthy feet from all over the world have found their way to this master craftsman. The late Princess Diana owned more than 30 pairs of his shoes, and the beauty and elegance of his footwear was greatly admired by Princess Diana.

In April 2001, Jimmy Choo sold his 50% stake in the company for $10 million. He now designs exclusively for the Jimmy Choo Couture line, produced under license from Jimmy Choo Ltd. This exclusive couture company produces only three or four hand-made pairs of shoes per day. His customer list consists only of royalty, celebrities, and the rich and famous. These custom-made shoes are available by appointment only, at Connaught Street, which is off Oxford Street in London.

Very fashion-forward and cutting edge design make Jimmy Choo shoes the most sought-afer footwear. Choo favors crystalline colors, aqua, fuchsia, and bright orange and applies them to luxury fabrics like silk satin and shantung. Python and fish skin are some preferred materials used to make his shoes. He also favors the use of mink and feathers in some of his styles. Jimmy Choo has used a wide variety of different stones to embellish his shoes, from Swarovski crystals to natural crystals. His stiletto heels have been described as both dainty and deadly. Choo's philosophy is that shoes can be both beautiful and comfortable, and his devotees prove the point by their complete devotion to his luxurious designer shoes.

In 1996, he co-founded Jimmy Choo Ltd with UK Vogue accessories editor Tamara Mellon. The Jimmy Choo London line, also known as Jimmy Choo ready-to-wear or simply, Jimmy Choo, is now in the creative hands of Tamara Mellon and Sandra Choi. Choi, who was an apprentice under Choo, is the Creative Director at the company. Choi has achieved tremendous success in her own right and a strong following that includes everyone from Madonna to the Bush twins. Though not custom-made, the Jimmy Choo line is all fabricated in Italy with top quality. The shoe collections are shown twice a year to coincide with the designer fashion shows in Paris, Milan, London, and New York. The company also offers men's shoes, handbags, and small leather goods. Choo has freestanding stores in London, New York, Las Vegas, and Beverly Hills and is carried in luxury retailers such as Neiman Marcus, Liberty of London, Bergdorf Goodman, and Harrods.

Jimmy Choo has become one of the largest off-the-shelf luxury shoe companies in the world, with prices running from $400 to $1,600 per pair of shoes. In a very short length of time, Choo is selling almost as many pairs of shoes as his major competitor, 30-year-old Manolo Blahnik. Comfortable, highly stylish shoes for women and men of impeccable taste and high status are the defining elements of Jimmy Choo designs. Choo continues to inspire budding shoemakers and fashion designers around the world, especially in his country of birth Malaysia.

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